Stand by Me

For this class Ollywood I was assigned to choose a movie that would best suit me and would be able to watch. I chose "Stand by Me" by Rob Reiner. I was recommended by my teacher and so I watched it thinking probably it was going to be boring but at the end I really like it and now it's one of my favorite movies of all times. I think that this movie was great. I am really proud that I got to see this movie because it was fun to watch especially a movie from the 80's.

Hey, my name is J.R and I’d like to talk to you about a really great movie titled Stand by Me directed by Rob Reiner” This movie was released on August 8, 1986, The Main characters are Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman. Stand by Me is now one of my favorite top movies that I’ll always recommend to other people. I liked this movie very much because it used some cool film techniques and some of the kids lives were a mess because of their parents really stood out throughout the whole movie. They really expressed a lot of their emotions and that’s one thing that I really liked because it made me feel what they were going through.

This movie is about four young kids that go on an adventure trying to find a missing dead body. As, they go on their adventure they go through some challenges and also become more mature. These kids try to find a missing teenage boy that got hit by a train. When they` found out about the missing boy they thought that if they found him they probably will become hero’s and have their faces on tv and the newspapers. The boys really want to do something different and special with their lives, and some just want to get away from their terrible families.

In some scenes of the movie there were a lot of fade out (dissolve) editing cuts used, more in the parts where the boys were talking/walking together on the train tracks and well because the movie is one long flashback. So, it makes good sense that the film editors would use fade outs to capture these past moments. Another editing cut used effectively was the Eyeline Match used when the group of boys all started on their adventure and one of them mentions “Food” and none brought food so they start giving their money to Gordie to count. The editing here shows that Gordie is really the unofficial leader of the group by focusing our eyes on what he is doing as he collects all of the money as the one in charge. In addition, camera techniques including long shots and mid-shots of the train tracks were used in the scene when the boys debated whether they should risk taking the train tracks and getting killed by the train and jumping off but it was 100 ft. These camera techniques, along with the editing made me feel like I was part of the group.

Besides editing and camera angles, the soundtrack of “Stand by Me” included songs weren’t really that familiar to me because the story takes place during the late 1950s. The song that really stood out to me was “Lollipop” by: The Chordettes, which is played in the scene when the boys were walking in pairs singing lollipop and making the “POP” sound. The song actually matches the action in this scene, which is interesting because the soundtrack is part of the story, not just playing over it like in most other movies. Another powerful part of the soundtrack is the flute played in Ben King’s “Stand by Me” song which is played in the early part of the film and played again in a different beat at the end of the movie. which is “stand by me by: Ben King” This song is also the title of the film, which makes me think that the theme of is really important in the movie.

Some sound effects that really brought certain scenes to life and made the boys’ journey more realistic were crumbling rocks, barfing and gunshots.

The film focuses on the friendship of these boys, and since it is told as a flashback by the main character, Gordie, it seems to show the difference between childhood and manhood. There were many scenes that showed parts where it was childhood to manhood like when all four of them went together to find this missing dead body. Chris manning up in front of his brother when both his brother’s gang meet where they find the missing dead body.

I’d recommend this film because it shows a lot of friendship between these kids and shows lots of bravery and confidence in going on to an adventure to find a dead missing body together. The best part is that each one of them has each others back no matter what.

Thank you for reading!

The AJ & JR Show: There Will Be Blood Critique

In my elective course, Ollywood we focus on the components that makes a film come together. The second Action Project is a video critique about the 2007 drama film, There Will Be Blood. The purpose of this project was to give a general explanation of the plot, characters, framing, lighting, and also our personal experience of the movie in a video format with a partner. I'm proud of being with a peer, and to accomplish this assignment in this time frame we had. The most challenging part for my partner and I was the filming of the video, we had faced a lot of camera and tech issues while filming. Overall I would do it again with my partner! Below you can locate the rest of our project. I hope you enjoy it as my partner and I enjoyed making it.

Filming Info 

Movie Title: There Will Be Blood
Genre: Drama
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Release Date: December 26, 2007
Main Characters: Daniel Plainview By: Daniel Day-Lewis and Eli Sunday By: Paul Dano
Number of awards: 55

AJ and JR Show: There Will be Blood

        

Slideshow seen in the video above:

        

Thank you for your view! Click here for link to There Will be Blood movie trailer!

The Beast of the Southern Wild

For my class Ollywood I was assigned to choose between five films to watch and write about the production design- the sets,costumes, and props of the film as well as identify the protagonist, antagonist, and other plot elements. I chose to critique the film  Beasts of the Southern Wild. I really liked the movie because it showed the positive things a child can do. I think that is very interesting that the movie was directed by someone who got inspired of the Hurricane Katrina.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a film directed by Benh Zeitlin. The movie was filmed in Louisiana and released in the year of 2012. Young Hushpuppy lives with her father Wink in a little community on water with a small group of neighbors. Hushpuppy is only six years old and is curious about her mother who is missing, but is maybe alive somewhere. Wink is the only thing she has right now, but he’s extremely sick and is an alcoholic Hushpuppy is the protagonist of the film, and one of the quotes that best represents her character is when HUshpuppy says, “The whole universe depends on things fitting together just right.” I liked this quote because for her to be six and actually speaking this is pretty impressive; she seems to know a lot like an adult. The antagonists of the movie are the aurochs and the storm.It clearly has the residents on edge, as one. The little boy warned the others“ The storm is coming, the storm is coming, the storm is coming.”

Hushpuppy wants to find her mother and spend more time with her father, Wink. She tries to understand why her father acts the way he acts and what’s wrong with him. She questions herself about why her father doesn’t seem to want to be with her and pushes her away. She tries to understand him and talk to him but he’s always busy drinking and barely has time. She wants her father to stay healthy and be there with her. But, there’s a problem that happens. The storm get overly aggressive and floods the town, affecting a lot of the people in their own households. This storm infected most of the animals, leaving the people in the town to starve.  Hushpuppy’s desire is to leave on an adventure to find her mother. She wants to find out if her mother is still somewhere alive. She carries the hope with her even when her father tells her that she’s dead.  Meanwhile, the antagonists - the aurochs and the storm -  lead to the destruction of people, houses and constantly threaten the other characters and take over of Bathtub make Bathtub as their environment the entire community of the Bathtub.

The director, Zeitlin, was inspired to make the sets of Beasts after the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. That hurricane struck the Bahamas before passing to Southern Florida, then to the Gulf of Mexico and the southeast of Louisiana in late August of 2005. It caused severe destruction and left a lot of people injured, dead, and homeless. Beasts shows the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina through the sets and costumes. For example, the houses in the Bathtub were destroyed, garbage was floating on everywhere on the water, there weren’t enough animals to feed on just everything was a disaster from the beginning of the film . The characters who lived in the Bathtub wore the same clothes again and again -- often they were ripped, worn out, too-big boots and shoes. The outfits that the characters wore actually fitted with their personality it makes people think about who the person is.

Hushpuppy now knows that her father is ill and is soon going to die. The only way to not stay alone is to go on an adventure to find her dead mother. Hushpuppy and her friends, leave the hospital and make her company as she tries to find her mother.The scene that most stood out to me was was the ending of the film. The scene is when Hushpuppy’s father dies and Hushpuppy sets him on fire on the car boat onto the water. It really shows the courage, bravery and strength to actually do what she did. She now has to face the real world, being an orphan, also with the Aurochs taking over is a big deal for her. Not only that she’s an orphan but she also has her fathers neighbors that were his close friends. Hushpuppy now is on her own with no family.

Stolz, Kit. Meet the future, little girl. 2014.